SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
238
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
CHAPTER 8
THE SCHOLAR: THOMAS AQUINAS
INSTRUCTIONS: Select the best answer according to the text.
TRUE/FALSE
1. The term theology comes from Greek roots meaning
talking about God.
2. The early Christians developed a sophisticated political
philosophy.
3. The law of contradiction is a principle of reason.
4. Augustine struggled to reconcile Christian theology with
Manichean dualism.
5. As a young man, Augustine pretended to be holier and better
than he really was in order to impress his friends.
6. Augustine rejected classical humanism on the grounds that it
underestimated the role of reason in faith.
7. Thomas Aquinas s family was delighted when Thomas
decided to become a Dominican.
8. Augustine argued that, without the right will, reason is perverse.
9. According to Augustine, Epicureanism is fit only for the best
of men.
10. Among the Classical philosophers, Augustine had the most
respect for the Stoics.
11. Albertus Magnus was a great opponent of Christian
theology.
12. The medieval church attempted to reconcile Christian
dogma with the teachings of Aristotle.
13. Scholasticism refers to any scholarly pursuit.
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
239
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
14. As a member of a university faculty, Thomas Aquinas was
encouraged to pursue the truth wherever it led.
15. Thomas Aquinas s arguments for the existence of God
clearly refute Aristotle s atheism.
16. Thomas Aquinas s arguments for the existence of God are
based on laws of reason, unlike Aristotle s arguments,
which are based on cause and effect.
17. The cosmological argument concludes that there must be
an Uncaused Cause capable of imparting existence to all
other things.
18. Thomas Aquinas believed that before creation, nothing
existed.
19. The teleological argument is also known as the argument
from degree.
20. Thomas Aquinas argued that God cannot prevent evil.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
21. Our culture has been heavily influenced by an ongoing
clash between _____ and _____ values.
a. Catholic/Protestant
b. Christian/Classical Greek
c. Jewish/Christian
d. Western/Eastern
22. The classical mind was chiefly _____ .
a. secular
b. theological
c. materialistic
d. idealistic
23. The medieval mind was chiefly _____ .
a. secular
b. theological
c. philosophical
d. scientific
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
240
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
24. The medieval scholar studied church dogma and
theology in order to _____ .
a. discover the truth
b. validate science
c. pursue wisdom wherever it might lead
d. explain what God chose to reveal
25. The chief concern of early Christians was _____ .
a. reconciling faith with reason
b. developing a consistent theology
c. salvation through faith
d. the establishment of a church hierarchy
26. Interpreting revealed sacred dogma is _____ .
a. surprisingly simple once fundamental principles
are identified
b. always dangerous, for once interpretation begins,
the door is open to conflicting interpretations
c. forbidden by virtually every major religion
d. the task of the branch of theology known as
subjective apologetics
27. The basic rules of inference define the limits of _____ .
a. faith
b. intelligence
c. theology
d. rationality
28. Rules of inference are also known as _____ .
a. laws of knowledge
b. principles of reason
c. pillars of faith
d. laws of convenience
29. The _____ says that no statement can be both true and
false at the same time and under the same conditions.
a. Bible
b. rule of truth value
c. law of contradiction
d. principle of consistency
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
241
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
30. Augustine tried to synthesize early Christian theology
with _____ .
a. Platonism and Manicheanism
b. Aquinas s Five Ways
c. the Problem of Evil
d. the use of Latin as the only language of theology
31. Augustine s philosophy is based on his struggle to _____.
a. abandon his son without guilt
b. distinguish between natural theology and unnatural
science
c. choose sides between paganism and Christianity
d. prove God s existence by appealing to common
miracles
32. In the City of God, Augustine presents the first _____ever.
a. philosophy of theology
b. Christian version of Plato s utopia
c. proof for the existence of an Uncaused Cause
d. philosophy of history
33. Augustine accused classical humanism of _____.
a. plagiarizing the Old Testament
b. overvaluing the will
c. logical inconsistency
d. nothing (He was a classical humanist himself.)
34. Augustine characterized Epicureanism as _____.
a. Stoicism grown feeble
b. philosophy for children
c. fit for swine
d. the best paganism has to offer
35. Thomas Aquinas joined the _____ order of friars.
a. Benedictine
b. Franciscan
c. Dominican
d. Scholastic
36. According to Augustine, the Epicureans _____ .
a. lived as Christians though they be not so
b. satisfied themselves at the expense of the poor
c. provided for the poor at their own expense
d. were the first true Scholars
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
242
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
37. Thomas Aquinas taught at _____ .
a. Oxford
b. the University of Milan
c. the University of Paris
d. the College of Cardinals
38. Medieval scholarship was greatly affected
by the discovery of great commentaries on the
works of Aristotle made by _____ scholars.
a. French
b. Arabian
c. Greek
d. Carpathian
39. The _____ opened up a new world of scholarship that
challenged Christian theology.
a. Protocols of Reason
b. Carpathian Wars
c. Crusades
d. Children s Crusade
40. _____ was Thomas Aquinas s great teacher
at the University of Cologne.
a. St. Dominic di Leopardi
b. Albertus Magnus
c. Magnus Cartus
d. Averroës Avicennes
41. _____ encouraged Thomas Aquinas to search for
synthesis and unity of knowledge.
a. Albertus Magnus
b. The Pope
c. St. Dominic di Leopardi
d. Erasmus
42. Thomas Aquinas was nicknamed _____ .
a. God s Right Arm
b. the Gadfly of Satan
c. the Dumb Ox
d. God s Hawk
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
243
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
43. Thomas Aquinas s great task was to integrate
_____ with Christian theology.
a. Plato
b. Aristotle
c. Stoicism
d. Arabian metaphysics
44. Thomas Aquinas s great works were known as _____ .
a. libras
b. totalioses
c. complitiones
d. summas
45. The term scholasticism comes from a Greek root
meaning, among other things, to _____ .
a. work while we can
b. enjoy leisure
c. suffer in silence
d. sing God s praises
46. Scholastic philosophy rested on a strong interest
in _____ .
a. scientific proofs for the existence of God
b. logical and linguistic analysis of texts and
arguments
c. Plato s idealism
d. efforts to produce a solid theory of Christian
politics
47. The ultimate goal of scholastic philosophy was _____ .
a. a systematic statement and defense of
Christian beliefs
b. the complete refutation of Aristotelian
metaphysics
c. the establishment of universal criteria
for the conferring of degrees
d. the transformation of the Bible from a
simple expression of faith to a cohesive
philosophical argument
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
244
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
48. Scholastic method included _____ .
a. empirical research
b. strict standards of documentation
c. field testing of claims
d. careful collecting of factual observations
49. Thomas Aquinas offered _____ way(s) to
prove the existence of God.
a. two
b. four
c. five
d. one
50. Thomas Aquinas begins his proofs for the existence
of God with the argument from _____ .
a. revelation
b. cosmology
c. teleology
d. motion
51. Thomas Aquinas concluded that there must be a(n)
_____ capable of imparting existence to all other
things.
a. Unmoved Mover
b. Uncaused Cause
c. Always Existing Being
d. Fount of Existence
52. The argument from motion begins with the fact
that _____ .
a. God is real
b. things are already in motion
c. motion can never end
d. every motion creates an opposite and equal
countermotion
53. The cosmological argument concludes that there
must be a(n) _____ .
a. Uncaused Cause
b. order to the operations of the cosmos
c. Divine cosmopolis
d. earthly beauty that implies ideal beauty
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
245
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
54. The argument from necessity is based on the idea
that _____.
a. human beings need to believe in God
b. God needs people so that he can manifest love
c. if nothing had ever existed, nothing would
always exist
d. God provides all the necessities if we only believe
55. The argument from _____ is based on the idea that
being progresses from inanimate objects to increasingly
complex creatures.
a. growth
b. being
c. animation
d. gradation
56. Today, the argument from _____ is probably the
most alien of all of Thomas s ways of proving the
existence of God.
a. motion
b. revelation
c. animation
d. gradation
57. The _____ rests on the claim that the universe
manifests order and purpose.
a. argument from inherent structure
b. teleological argument
c. cosmological argument
d. epistemological argument
58. Thomas Aquinas s arguments for the existence of
God begin with _____ .
a. empirical observations
b. revelations
c. refutations of Aristotle s faulty logic
d. appeals to authority
59. The problem of evil rests on apparent inconsistencies
concerning _____ .
a. God s omnipotence, wisdom, and goodness
b. God s inability to defeat Satan
c. the conditions under which the rich and poor live
d. scholasticism and science
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
246
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
60. According to Thomas Aquinas, evil is _____ .
a. a just punishment for original sin
b. a kind of by-product of free will
c. the result of an evil will
d. the presence of something vile
61. According to Thomas Aquinas, no one can deliberately
will _____ .
a. the welfare of another, for we are all selfish
b. his or her own salvation, for we are fallen
c. evil who recognizes it as evil
d. good without willing evil
62. Thomas Aquinas argued that God willed a universe
in which _____ .
a. the cosmic struggle between humans and Satan
manifests God s power
b. evil stands on its own and must fight to survive
c. God s love could be multiplied
d. good and evil are coequal until Judgment Day
63. According to Thomas Aquinas, God willed _____ .
a. not evil itself but the real possibility of evil
b. only the appearance of evil
c. only the apparent struggle for salvation,
knowing from the moment of creation that
all will be saved
d. the existence of the devil because God was
infinitely lonely
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
247
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
OVERVIEW OF MODERN THEMES
INSTRUCTIONS: Select the best answer according to the text.
TRUE/FALSE
1. Martin Luther denied that salvation could be earned
by works.
2. Luther argued that the institution and authority of the
church are unnecessary.
3. Luther founded the Lutherian Order of Monks.
4. In the Middle Ages, the physical world was thought to be
completely separate from the spiritual order.
5. The medieval worldview saw the Earth as the center of the
solar system.
6. Once he understood it, Luther was converted to
Copernicus s theory of astronomy.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
7. Martin Luther challenged _____ .
a. Descartes s rationalism on empirical grounds
b. church authority
c. the idea that individuals could be saved without an
institutionalized church
d. the Ptolemaic worldview
8. Ptolemy thought that _____ .
a. Copernicus s view of the heavens is correct
b. Luther s theology failed to account for original sin
c. the Earth is the center of the universe
d. the sun is the center of the universe
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
248
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
9. Copernicus proposed that _____ .
a. the sun is the center of the solar system
b. the Earth is the center of the universe
c. heaven is the center of the universe
d. the stars are approximately a foot wide
10. Copernicus s discovery _____ .
a. had virtually no effect on philosophy
b. rendered church authority irrelevant in matters of
science
c. supported the Aristotelian view of the heavens
d. was viewed with great joy by Luther, who thought
that Copernicus s work paralleled his own
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
351
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
Chapter 8
THE SCHOLAR: THOMAS AQUINAS
1. How does the classical worldview differ from the medieval
worldview? Be specific.
2. What does it mean to say that human beings are susceptible to
principles of reason? Give examples of principles of reason. What is
their connection to the origins of scholastic philosophy?
3. Explain what Augustine was getting at when he said, I was so
blind to the truth that among my companions I was ashamed to be
less dissolute than they were. As part of your explanation, assess
the role of struggle in Augustine s life. What was he struggling
with?
4. Discuss Augustine s view of Stoicism and Epicureanism.
5. In summary but thorough form, state Thomas Aquinas s
Five Ways for proving the existence of God. Which of the Five
Ways do you think is the weakest? The strongest? Explain why. *
6. State the problem of evil and explain how the traditional Judeo-
Christian concept of God generates the problem of evil. How does
Thomas solve the problem of evil? What do you think of his
solution? Explain. *
7. Can God make a rock so large He cannot lift it? Do you think
this is a trick question? What does trying to answer it reveal about
the limits of reason applied to faith? What hard choices do we have
to make when we try to understand the traditional Judeo-Christian
concept of God? Explain. *
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
352
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
Overview of Modern Themes
1. In general terms, explain how the modern worldview differs
from the medieval.
2. Explain how issues of authority triggered the Enlightenment.
Refer to specific historical issues and individuals. *
SOCCIO ARCHETYPES OF WISDOM
376
Last printed 3/14/2023 11:35:00 AM
CHAPTER 8 ANSWERS